


The Gilded Cage

by ShamelessSelfInsert



Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst, Anti-Faunus Racism (RWBY), Dark Comedy, Dark Remnant, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Master/Slave, Non-Sexual Slavery, Police state, Political Expediency, Post-Volume 4 (RWBY), Post-Volume 5 But Everything Took a Turn For the Worst, Sexual Slavery, Slavery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-26
Updated: 2019-11-30
Packaged: 2021-02-25 04:00:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21570454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShamelessSelfInsert/pseuds/ShamelessSelfInsert
Summary: The White Fang dreamed of creating equality through fear. Instead they brought slavery born of hatred, and managed to drag the rest of the Faunus down into hell with them. Velvet Scarlatina always tried to do the right thing, but to the bitter it made no difference. After she finally falls in battle will she find her way to freedom or trap herself in a gilded cage?
Comments: 6
Kudos: 28





	1. Brave New World

When Velvet came to, the first thing she felt was the cold bite of a metal collar pinched around her neck. The first thing she saw was a mace pointed at her head.

“Don’t move.” A voice said menacingly. It’s tone sounded almost familiar. She tried to place it, but the warbling words were too distorted. Her vision was swimming.

“She’s waking up.” Another voice said, somewhat clearer. Velvet tried to lift her head to see the source of the sound, but the cock of a barrel stopped her in her tracks.

“ _It’s_ waking up.” The crueler voice corrected. “And it needs to listen.”

Velvet blinked rapidly, trying to shake off the foggy cloud that permeated her body. She was lying down. Somewhere hard. Her body ached; she was stiff all over. And wherever she was, it reeked.

“Fucking animals can’t hold it in for few more hours?” A voice scoffed, and Velvet tensed. She knew that voice, knew that hate.

“What do you expect?” A higher pitched voice whined. “ Mutts don’t mind wallowing in their own filth. Why the hell are we in the pen with them?”

“This one’s dangerous.” The calmest voice of the group went. “ Remember what she was like in school? Double it. Damn near killed us.”  
  
Her eyes widened. She could see that one, out of the corner of her eyes. “D-d-d-dove.” she said softly. “Dove Bronzewing.” The man grimaced.

“Well.” The cruel voice laughed. “ The bunny eared freak remembers you, buddy. Doesn’t that make you feel special?”  
  
She locked eyes with her former classmate, silently pleading. He had enough decency left to avert his gaze in shame. His comrades had no such scruples.

“Don’t go soft on me now, Dove.” The leader growled. “ This bitch almost killed Russel. She’s going to pay us back.”

“... I wanna go home.”

The whimper was soft, but Velvet’s faunus ears were able to pick it up.

‘The children!’ She remembered. ‘I have to protect the children!’ Velvet jolted up, instinctively avoided the easiest path of the mace, before she heard a faint crackle around her neck.

The young huntress crashed to the ground, screaming at the top of her lungs. Her body convulsed wildly, flailing helplessly at her neck as she tried to stop the pain. 

It felt like hot shards of glass were scattered throughout her veins, and with each pump of her heart they were forced deeper into her body. She felt her muscles twitch and shudder, desperately fleeing the feeling of knives stabbing her everywhere at once. She summoned whatever presence of mind she had left to send her aura into her neck, to block the source of the constant jolts ripping through her flesh. Only to redouble over in agony as the force of her torment got even worse, fire racing across her nerves.

Finally, mercifully, the crackling stopped, leaving her an exhausted, shivering mess on the cold steel floor.

“You really shouldn’t have done that.” Cardin said cockily.

Velvet panted, sweat rolling down her forehead and her eyes wide. Whatever else the collar had done to her, she was awake now.

Thoughts flooded into the space vacated by the pain. ‘ I was taking a caravan to Vacuo. Refugees from Vale. We were traveling by night. We were halfway across Sanus. We were ambushed.’

An old man walked into the hold, ostentatiously dressed. He had the haughty air of wealth, and the snivelling insecurity of having gotten his wealth recently, and shamefully. His suit was finely pressed and every button and cufflink shined in the dim electronic light of the hold, as if the dignity of his dress could make the world forget he was a slaver.

Velvet had grown to hate such men.

“The Huntress girl is stable?” He asked. 

“Relatively.” Cardin said acidly.

“I should hope so.” The slaver replied. “ I told you it was risky to use the tranquilizer. There’s no safe dosage for humanoids that will knock them out quickly; you could have very easily killed her. She’s worth nothing dead.”  
  
“And I told you the freak could handle it.” Cardin replied. “ Huntsman constitution. Besides, even with its aura down, the mutt is too dangerous to handle uncollared. Now we don’t have to worry about that any longer.”

Velvet’s heart sank as she processed the cold metal band pressing against her skin.

The slaver turned his attention to the rest of the prisoners. “For those of you who are unaware, you have all been fitted with a little wonder called Lifetime Enslavement Automatic Shock Harness, or LEASH, Mark II. The system has no external power source- it runs off your own aura. The Mark I was designed to subdue rogue Huntsman, and as the lovely little lady on the floor has just demonstrated, it is _very_ good at that. Any attempts to disobey the voice commands of the keyed in owner will turn your aura into electric shocks, as will any attempt to escape the keyed in area. For the moment, that means us, and the inside of this cabin.

“In addition to being more suited for mass production, the brilliant minds at Atlas added in another extra feature to your LEASH; explosives. Once the collar is primed to your aura the circuit is like a grenade- breaking the LEASH is like pulling the pin.” The slaver chuckled. “A few poor saps didn’t believe me and their brains splattered in less than a week. Any attempt to remove the LEASH yourself will cause the system to activate, giving you a nasty little voltage bath. If you want to try your luck with someone else taking it off, be my guest, but at least wait until after I’ve sold you- these things ain’t cheap.”  
  
Velvet glowered but she dared not move. Her torture had already demoralized the rest of her group. She had to stay strong, for them.

“These gizmos never come off. This is your life now. You will do what you are told, you will be shocked when you don’t. You are to be bought and sold, you are to be worked and used and tossed aside. Do not cry for mercy- you do not deserve it. Do not cry for freedom- those days are over. Do not cry for equality- you vermin have proven that we were fools to allow you to delude yourselves for so long. You are animals; you are chattel; you are Faunus.”  
  
There were tears across the hold. Velvet looked dully at the features that separated the captives from the captors, the slaves from the masters. A rams horn, a rodent’s tail, some stray scales across the body. She looked faintly at the long, brown ears atop her own head.

“ Accept these rules, and you’ll make your own miserable lives longer and easier. Don’t, and … well, hell, if you want to torture yourself I guess that’s the only choice you’ve got left to make. Knock yourself out.”

* * *

“Miss Scarlatina.” A small voice said. “I’m scared.” 

Velvet sighed. The boy in front of her was small; couldn’t have been more than 10 years old. Had he been a bit younger he might have been able to escape notice- his antlers had only just gotten long enough to poke out of his mangy head of hair.

There had been many such people in her caravans. Dozens of Faunus in the settlements outside of Vale. Things had gotten very bad, very fast, and anywhere near the main Kingdoms was becoming dangerous.

It had started with the Fall of Beacon. The last thing the world had seen before global communication had been the Faunus terrorist group, the White Fang, dropping hordes of Grimm into a stadium filled with civilians. Velvet had been a student then, had fought back the monsters and maniacs, and seen too many Humans and Faunus die that night- including some of her friends. In this bleak moment, she wondered if they had been the lucky ones.

After the Fall had been brutal. She and her team, CFVY, had trekked across Sanus to Vacou, to continue their education at Shade Academy. Beacon, and many of the outlying districts of Vale, had been too infested by the Grimm for the weakened Kingdom to hope to reclaim.

For a while things had seemed to be slowly turning back to normal- then 1 year later Haven fell as well. Adam Taurus, not content with wrecking one Academy, had set off bombs and levelled the hallowed halls of another Huntsmen school. After killing most of the students in the building, the revolutionary sparked a general riot across the great Kingdom of Mistral, whose most Elite Huntsman had quietly vanished over the preceding months. When the dust settled, it was revealed that Headmaster Leonardo Lionheart, himself a Faunus, had aided and abetted the attackers, betraying his colleagues to assassins. The White Fang’s toppling of Menagerie’s government and murder of the Chieftain had granted them control of the island, and though Adam died in Mistral his legacy did not.

The final nail in the coffin had been the dust riots in Mantle. When the Kingdom of Atlas closed its borders, it’s mighty dust mines had ground to a halt. Rapidly taking losses the Dust companies suspended wages to all of their idle employees, the same poor, overwhelmingly Faunus workers who had no where else to go but those infamous hellholes. Faced with starvation the workers staged an uprising that nearly cost Atlas its sister city- millions more were dead by the time the Grimm had turned to ash and the dust had settled.

By dumb luck, the Atlesians restored the CCT Network just in time to reveal all the world’s problems with the Faunus at the same time. Millions were dead, thousands of square miles of territory had been lost, and crucial infrastructure and defenses were irreparably damaged. 

The dam had finally broken. The Fang had endeavoured to bring about equality for the Faunus by fear- instead it doomed them to the subjugation of hate. Friendships soured, neighbor turned against neighbor, mixed families tore themselves apart. No Faunus was trusted in any role of authority any longer- former Councilman were mobbed in the streets. Suspected White Fang sympathizers were imprisoned on masse- and soon that meant every Faunus within the Kingdom’s borders.

Feeding millions of imprisoned people in a time of crisis proved to be nearly suicidal for Humanity and for a moment the fate of the Faunus hung in the balance. Some voices called for grace, others outright genocide.

Then an Atlesian Engineer named Arthur Watts came out with a final solution. Never again would Humans be challenged by their animalistic cousins; never again would the Kingdoms be laid low. Ore and dust would flow freely, and the world’s most dangerous drudgery would never risk the lives of anyone valuable. The LEASH was proposed and immediately ordered en masse- it became the law in every Kingdom that no Faunus could live without one.

Some voices of the old order, the braver ones that remained, had cried out against this. They had not lasting long- shunted out of political power by the vengeful mob. A new order had taken over the world. The prohibition on slavery enshrined in the Vytal Settlement was overturned and government’s sold their prisoners to raise money for their armies. A World Wide War was declared against the Fang and anyone who got in their way. Freelance traffickers would round up whatever stray Faunus they could find to line their own pockets.

Velvet had escaped Vacuo when things got hairy. The laws had changed just like the other Kingdoms, but no law was enforced outside of the Academies and the wandering desert tribes had been happy to take them in. After staying with the Kenyte for several months, Velvet had split with the rest of her team. She had work to do.

The Faunus in the villages outside the Kingdoms were next on the chopping block. The badlands were independent, but bandits and even their own neighbors regularly attacked and captured anyone with any signs of an animal trait. There was money to be made in the Kingdoms, and after the fall of Menagerie the well of Faunus captives had started drying up. Those lucky enough to see the writing on the wall began making a go for the least hospitable places in the world- like the Vacuoan desert.

Velvet had grown up in Vale- the rural parts of the Kingdom had been her home. She couldn’t abandon her family, her countrymen. She remembered the cramped cottage by the sea, the shouts and cries of her younger brothers and sisters tumbling across the floor and the sweet lullabies of her mother. If it was too late for them… she would save _someone_.

There were still Huntsman offering to guide the Faunus to safety. The worst sort, the Carmines and Bertilaks and Cardins of the world, led them right into the hands of the trappers. The better sort charged more than most peasants could afford, and refused to take any obvious weak links. It was a long, hard journey, and they wouldn’t take any extra risks.

Velvet had crossed Sanus herself- she knew the ground well. She could save more people- one look at her rabbit ears got most Faunus to trust her at least, and she only charged the cost of getting people across the continent. That was expensive enough- anything more would have been blood money.

Over the last year she had made three treks, each with fewer travelers. This would have been her fourth, and she had cobbled together less than 2 dozen survivors. There just weren’t any free faunus left.

The trembling little boy in front of her could only understand these things in the vaguest terms. His father had been ordered off the ship before the crew had bothered to change the LEASH’s locks and had been electrocuted half to death before they finally switched the system. The poor man was sitting on a bench nearby, half conscious. His mother had been taken away by the men in lab coats first, while the rest where left in a bare white hall, half waiting room, half stockyard.

Velvet pulled the boy onto her lap and held him tight.

“They took momma away.” He said, crying. “ And Daddy’s hurt. Why did they hurt Daddy?”

“These are bad people.” Velvet said softly. “ They like hurting others.”  
  
“Will you save us?” The boy asked. “ Like you did with the Nevermores, and the Beowolves?”  
  
Velvet held back tears. She would not cry in front of her charges, no matter what. “...I’ll try.”  
  
“Please say that there’s a way out. There has to be. There always is.”  
  
Velvet gently placed a hand on the boy’s chin, raising her eyes to his and wiping some stray tears away with her thumb. “ I don’t know the way out. I’m not strong enough for this. But, I can promise this. You’re still alive- as long as that’s true you have a chance. That’s what’s wonderful about being alive. As long as you remember that it’s something they can’t take away.” She placed a hand over the boy’s heart, taking comfort in the steady _ka-thunk, ka-thunk, ka-thunk_ . “Promise me you’ll hold on to that, Buck. That you won’t throw away that chance.”  
  
The boy sniffled, clutching his hero even more tightly. “...I promise.”  
  
“Velvet!” Dove called out sternly. “ You’re up.” Standing next to him was Kara Mel, a deer Faunus in her early thirties, who rushed over to her boy as soon as she was set loose.  
  
“Buck!” She cried, pulling the boy off the ground and into her bosom. Velvet looked kindly at the eyes of the crowd that had turned toward her.

“Sit tight.” She said, with forced cheer. “ I’ll be back before you know it.”

“Let’s go.” Dove said firmly. “ I don’t want to waste time with the shocker.”  
  
“I’m coming.” Velvet said, striding over with her head held high.

As they disappeared down the hallway, Velvet regarded her former classmate with a dull curiosity. Dove had been a bully, but he had always been the least aggressive of Cardin’s gang, the most content to sit on the sidelines. Now his jaw was covered by a patchy beard, and his eyes had a sunken, hollow look to them. He walked slowly, with his head hunched slightly forward.

“Why are you doing this?” She asked softly.

He pretended like he didn’t hear her.

“Why are you rounding us up with the rest of these thugs?” She said, raising her voice. “ I have eyes you know, I know that you know this is wrong.”  
  
Dove stopped, and slouched against the wall. He turned to look at her. He looked tired. “ I don’t know what’s right or what’s wrong anymore.”

“Slave trading is hardly a shade of gray.” 

“Neither is terrorism.” Dove said snarkily. “ You killed a lot of my friends.”

“I didn’t do that. Neither did they.” She pleaded, desperate for someone to hear her. “ Have you forgotten Beacon? I _fought_ the Fang- a lot of _our_ friends died trying to stop them.”  
  
Dove looked down. “ A lot of people are dead thanks to your kind.” He said heavily. “Somebody’s gotta pay for it. Might as well be you.”

“...How much?”  
  
Dove paused, uncomfortable. “ 5 million up front.” He said evenly. “ Plus a third of all sales at the auction.”

“So that’s what human life goes for these days?”  
  
Dove scowled, before shoving her into the doctor’s office. “ You aren’t human.”  


* * *

“Name?” The doctor asked.

“Velvet Scarlatina.”

  
  
“Date of Birth?”

  
  
“September 17th, 62 years after the Great War.”

“Place of birth?”

  
  
“La Grange Hospital, Pantyros, Vale.”

“Blood type?” 

“O+.”

The doctor made a note on his clipboard. For a moment it almost felt like a regular check up- except the doctor looked at her like an object rather than a person.

She had answered all of his questions quickly and honestly- he had made clear from the beginning he was keyed in to the LEASH and any refusal would be punished, and she had to save her resistance for a better, more opportune moment.

She stepped off the scale. “60kg. 132lbs by Valean measure.” He noted. “ 166cm tall. 5’5, about. Resting heart rate slower than average but stable, blood pressure well within normal levels. Trim, slender, athletic build, no sign of infections or illness and blemish free skin. Looks like the cleanest bill of health we’ve had in a while. Tell me, are you up to date with all your shots?”  
  
“ I was a year ago.” Velvet answered evenly. “ I had to be at the Academies.”  
  
“Good.” The Doctor said emotionlessly. “ That saves us some time. Now, lift up your arms.”  
  
Velvet obeyed, and was shocked to see a tape measure snake around her chest.

“...Is this really necessary?” She asked, voice tinged with embarrassment.

“It depends on the merchandise.” He said, not even granting the girl the recognition of desire. “Considering your body type we might attract a wider customer base if we advertise some details in advance. The open auction is tomorrow of course, but we have a few specialty shoppers who like to know there’s something they want before coming out.”

‘Just pretend it’s a tailor.’ Velvet said to herself as the tape got lower. ‘Coco took me out plenty of times, and this isn’t that much more embarrassing.’

“Alright.” The doctor said, typing the results into his scroll. Velvet looked down at the screen.

**Premium Merchandise: Available 6/7/84 at 8pm at Central Plaza**

**Rabbit Faunus (Ears); 21 y/o; Eyes:** **_Brown_ ** **; Hair:** **_Brown_ ** **; Skin:** **_White_ ** **; Figure:** **_34-22-34 (B-cup)_ **

**Sexual Experience: ...**

Velvet felt the beginnings of a blush appear on her cheeks.

“How many sexual partners have you had?” The doctor asked nonchalantly.

Velvet bit her tongue until a jolt of the collar forced an answer out of her.

“Zero.”

The doctor stopped for a fraction of a second- something resembling pity in his eyes. 

“Dearie,” he whispered, “they’re going to eat you alive.” Then he clicked on his scroll and sent out the ad.

* * *

The crowd was raucous and awful. Velvet could feel the rafters shake above their heads behind the curtain as the men were auctioned off outside.

Kara shook desperately next to her. Cold and fear wracked her naked body as they sat lined up on the floor.

Velvet tried to soothe her, but the woman was inconsolable. Sky and Russel walked by, leering at the merchandise.

“My baby!” She cried desperately. “Where is my baby!?”  
  
“Quiet wench!” Sky said, and the woman clamped her jaw shut before the collar could activate. The Huntsmen laughed.

“Well,” Russel said, still walking with a limp, “ since she’s being such a good girl right now, how about we let her in on our little game?”  
  
Sky chuckled. “ Why not?”  
  
“See,” Russel began, lording over the woman who just 48 hours ago had been pulverizing his spine “ after you see enough of these auctions you get a pretty good idea how they’re going to go down. Everyone’s special until reality hits them in the face. Wanna know what happened to the brat?”  
  
Kara nodded, still afraid to speak.

“Well,” Russel said, “ younger mutts are usually easier to train, so for 1 million flat the Schnees have been buying them up, training them how to work some of the more dangerous equipment. We’re under contract, those don’t even get to go to auction. Kind of boring honestly.”  
  
Kara started weeping. Velvet gently patted her shoulder. It could be worse. Buck would be training for a few years, long enough for the world to come to its senses. If not… at least he’d have a skill. They’d be less likely to throw him away.

“The men are pretty easy as well.” Sky said. “ Most of them go to the mines or sweatshops in the badlands, away from the sensitive eyes of the public. The strongest and fittest go for as much as 4 million, but since your hubby is stilled a bit woozy from yesterday I doubt he’ll pick up more than 3. We don’t bargain for less than 1 million so the sicker, weaker ones we’ll hold onto until we get the right price or can offload them in a bundle. As for the women folk…”  
  
“Really varies.” Russel said. “ The old maids make decent house servants, but you can’t get much physical labor out of most bitches so it can be hard for most of them to break even. Cuties on the other hand…” he chuckled, looking over Velvet, Kara, and two other women from the caravan. “ They’re certainly good for something.”  
  
“What do you think of this one?” Sky asked, looking over the grieving mother. 

“I dunno.” Russel said, shrugging. “ Hey, doe tail, stop crying and try and look pretty. Stand up and give us a good show.”

Kara struggled to her feet and wiped her tears from her eyes, forcing a fake, bright smile. Eyes roamed over her golden brown hair, her tanned skin, her generous bosom and childbearing hips. 

“Not bad.” Sky said. “ A bit on the older side, but I’d say she’s got a few more years as fuckable.”  
  
Kara paled.

“What do you think?” Russel asked. 

“At least 2 million.” Sky said airily. He then swatted Kara’s rear. “ Make it 3.” The woman flushed but said nothing, spirit already more or less broken. “ Brothel or breeding house- maybe both.” He chuckled.

Velvet seethed. “ Quit it.”  
  
Russel glared at her. “ What? Scared of the truth?” He barked. “ Not so tough anymore with a LEASH around your neck? Are you so dumb that you let us walk all over you for months but pick now to get brave?”  
  
“If you need four on one and a handicap to threaten me, I’m not very intimidated.”

Sky smirked at her. “ Fine. But like it or not, this little slut is getting a cock in her before the end of the night, and it’s not going to be her husband's. You can’t protect her from that.” He palmed Kara’s rear again, kneading the soft flesh between his hands. “ It isn’t all bad. You were crying about your baby, weren’t you? You won’t have to wait long for another one.”  
  
Kara paled but stayed silent, too terrified of the collar to cry.

“This one has a good head on her shoulders, and even if she’s a little on the MILF side of things she has a few more working years before we put her out to pasture. Yeah, I’d say about 3 million.”  
  
“What about Velvet?”  
  
The Rabbit Faunus’s heart stopped for a moment before she steadied herself. Sky and Russel’s eyes roamed over her body as though they were looking at a piece of meat. Where Kara had been soft and curvy, Velvet was lithe and tight. “ 5 million,” Sky said, “easy.”

Velvet’s eyes dulled. She felt no shame under their gaze. After all, a person had to be looking at her for her to feel embarrassed, and whatever CRDL had become they weren’t people any longer.

“ The bitch stays in good shape.” Russel agreed. “ And Huntress Hotness has a pretty long shelf life.”  
  
“The wonders of Aura.” Sky agreed sagely. “ Whatever happens tonight, wench, know that for the next couple decades you’re going to be fucked in pretty much every sense of the word.”

“Absolutely not!” The old man cried. “We already had a deal!”  
  
“And we kept our end of the bargain. We didn’t know we were going to face off against a Huntress. We need a hazard bonus.”  
  
“Hazard bonus?!” The slaver bellowed. “ What the fuck do I pay you for? To steal candy from babies? I’m not giving you free fucking merchandise.” His gaze shifted over to the blue haired brigand and the slaver’s face turned a rich shade of puce. “SKY!” He shouted at the top of his lungs. “ WHAT THE FUCK HAVE I SAID ABOUT MANHANDLING THE PRODUCTS!”

  
Sky stopped fondling Kara’s ass. “ Hehe, sorry boss.”  
  
“Look, Mr. Puce-” Russel began, 

‘So that’s actually his name.’ Velvet thought, her lips making a grim quiver upwards.

“-we’re just doing a final inspection.”  
  
“Final inspection.” Puce pantomimed. “ Which is why you left handprints on her cheeks. These are paying customers, do you think they came here to buy used goods?”  
  
“Well,” Sky said, “she was married, so if you think about it-”  
  
“Don’t get smart with me!” The slaver shouted. “ Look, I’ve played it pretty straight with you boys, done well by you. But I will not give away a perfectly good sale- let alone premium merchandise- for hazard pay!”  
  
“Make that two sales, actually.” Cardin said. “ The bunny and the deer. There are four of us and not enough holes to go around.”

“Sweet.” Russel said. “ Two doe hoes for the bros.”  
  
“Velvet’s a rabbit, you moron.” Sky said.

“Actually,” a new voice interjected “ female rabbits are also called does.”  
  
“Shut the fuck up, Dove.” Cardin said. “ Whatever they’re called, we want them. We earned them. Pay up.”

  
“I’m not made of Faunus!” The slaver bellowed. “ Like it or not, this cow has more or less been milked dry. Menagerie has fallen, Vale, Mistral and Atlas are picked clean, and Vacuo is a no man’s land. There are no more wild faunus, and resale is a totally different market. It took us two months to catch this batch- how long before we stumble on another one? I have overhead I need to handle before I close up shop, and I’m not throwing away millions of lien now. You’re taking food right off of my plate!”  
  
“Yeah.” Cardin said, looking pointedly at Puce’s diamond cufflinks. “I’ll bet.”

“You fucking want them, you buy them fair and square.”  
  
Cardin grinned. “ We get 33% off, right?”  
  
“Of course.” Puce waved. “I’m not charging you your share of the money. Now if you’re going to go, get! Bidding starts in a minute.”

“You got it.” Cardin said, slipping off stage.

Velvet felt a sinking pit in her stomach. Kara grabbed her hand gently. “ At least we’ll have each other.”

“And the burly looking deer is going once, going twice, sold! To the man in black from Charon Industries for 3,158,000 Lien! Put this stag to work properly. Now that we’re through with the gentleman, let’s take a look at tonight’s lovely ladies!”  
  
“Head out, now.” Puce ordered. “ And put a little sway in your step. Shake that money maker.” 

Kara seemed traumatized at the selling of her husband and son, but was quick to obey. The other two women CRDL had noted as comely were quick to follow. Velvet heard the collar crackle and leapt to her feet before the shock could set in, desperately brainstorming a way out of this nightmare.

She had nothing. She was collared. Game, set, match.

She had done alright, all things considered. She had gotten more than 200 people out of Vale before they could suffer the same fate, she had saved thousands of lives during her career as a Huntress, and she had gone out swinging. She wished she had managed to get these last 23 out, but that hadn’t been in the cards. She also wished she wasn’t being looked at like a piece of meat by hundreds of would be rapists.

She fought back shame as her body was bared to the crowd. ‘They aren’t people.’ She thought sternly. ‘No one worth caring about is looking at you.’

The Central Plaza had always been a vital area of commerce in Vale. Missions, weapons, exotic food- anything a person could want to buy could be found for sale somewhere nearby. ‘Now including people.’

The mission kiosk near the entrance of the square glowed faint blue in the night, outshining all the other store lights. Somewhere on that sign was someone who needed help, someone worth saving. And somewhere else was a slaving run, or a crackdown on rebels. Huntsmen were mercenaries at the end of the day- those were the jobs on the market.

In the distance she could make out several well armed figures approaching or leaving. While a few looked interestedly at the display of flesh on stage, most kept their eyes averted from the sight and went about their business. For a wild moment Velvet felt a surge of hope. These were _Huntsmen_ ; they knew what was happening was wrong and each was easily worth a platoon of standard warriors. Even the 10 in the square could charge the stage- fight off Puce and his cronies and then…

...then what? The collars would go off if the captives left the designated area and would kill them if they fought too hard or tried to force them off. Even if they could crack the code and widen the scope of the LEASH’s range, they were still in the middle of Vale. How would they move dozens of scared, naked refugees with built in tracking systems out of the city before the police and less scrupulous Huntsmen caught up to them? How many civilians could be caught in the crossfire? Any small scale rebellion by Huntsmen was suicide- a large one would probably wipe out the whole Kingdom.

The heroes of the people and the slayers of Grimm had been so focused on the monsters without that they had neglected the monsters within. By the time they had realised their error it was far too late. She couldn’t blame them for leaving her. Her life was over. The world they had fought for was gone and they were at the mercy of the new one.

The auctioneer was in a far more chipper mood, breaking the Faunus girl out of her reverie as he grabbed her by the ears.

“We’re going to start off tonight’s bidding with a very special treat.” He said. “Give us a little twirl love.” Velvet stood still for a moment before several jolts wracked her body. “ I said _twirl_.” She did. “ This little beauty used to be a huntress. If that isn’t enough for you she’s young enough that you’ll get plenty of mileage out of her- and cherry on top- her cherry.”

The crowd went silent for a moment. “ Bullshit!” a voice called in the background.

The auctioneer smiled. “ LEASH, activate lie detector mode.”

Velvet felt the collar pulse.

“As you can all see on your scrolls, little miss rabbit here is being monitored. Watch what happens when she tells a lie. Darling, say 2+2=5.”  
  
Velvet’s eyes widened. If she refused, she would be disobeying a direct order and would get shocked. If she obeyed, she would be lying. ‘You ruthless bastard.’

“2+2= fAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” She screamed, fire spreading into her lungs.

“See.” The auctioneer laughed. “Honesty absolutely guaranteed. Also, lovely voice on this one.” Velvet’s glare just seemed to amuse him more. Her screams also drew in a larger crowd. People on the edge of the market, even those who had nothing to do with the slave trade, were moving in to see the show. “ And a little spunk left in her too! I’m telling you, she’s going to be an absolute joy to break in. Tell us sweetheart, have you ever had sex with a man before?”  
  
“No.” Velvet answered curtly.

“Or a woman?”  
  
“No.” 

“And what is the furthest you’ve ever gone sexually?”  
  
“That’s privat-AH!” the jolt forced the answer out of her “ I made out with my partner on a dare from our leader my fifth week at Beacon!”

“Oh, that is just precious.” The auctioneer laughed. “ Don’t you just want to pound the innocence right out of this one?”  
  
“3 million!” A voice bellowed from the back.

“Bullshit.” The auctioneer said. “ 3 milllion for this fine piece of ass? I’d deflower her myself before I’d give her away at that price. 4 million or nothing. 4 million going once, 4 million going twice-” the auctioneer turned around, faced the crowd, and then wrapped an arm around Velvet’s bare waist “ well in that case, I guess-”

“4 million!”

The auctioneer’s face was stuck between a grin and a grimace, greed and lust battling for dominance. “4 million going once-”  
  
“5 million.” Cardin sneered.

Velvet bit back another scream. The older gentleman who bid first was much more visibly wealthy than the tall redhead by a wide margin, but Cardin had an assured smile on his face. He knew, and Velvet knew, that he didn’t have to pay all of what he bid, and he had just come off payday.

The richer men in the crowd didn’t seem to want to give in just yet, and Velvet found herself split between options.

“ 5 and a quarter!”  
“ 5 and a half!” 

“ 5 and three quarters!”

  
“ 6.” Cardin said smugly.

She didn’t want anyone to win. But as loathsome as they were, she had to admit that CRDL were fit and moderately handsome Huntsmen and their rivals were graying, frail or corpulent old men. But that was cold comfort when faced with the prospect of spending the rest of her life as Team Cardinal’s pet whore.

“7!” An older man shouted. Even at this distance Velvet could make out the snowflake pin on his shoulders. It wasn’t Jacques Schnee, but it was someone from SDC right below him on the totem pole.

“Big bucks for the bunny babe!” The auctioneer said gleefully, lust clearly having lost the battle for his heart. “ 7 going once, 7 going twice-”  
  
“7 and a half.”

“What the fuck, Cardin?” Sky whispered. 

Taking into account the discount that would cost the group 5 million- their entire wage for the mission. She didn’t take the CRDL as the most money conscious of lads so she doubted they had much cash on hand. Sky’s irritation seemed to confirm this- if they didn’t get their commission until after the auction then Cardin had just blown all their money on her.

The crowd went quiet. Apparently, even a virgin huntress was overpriced at some point, especially when other attractive options were still on the table. The Schnee executive put down his hand. Other men were entertaining bids, whispering to one another, but they all held their tongues. Cardin shot her a vicious smile that promised her a world of pain.

‘Well,’ Velvet thought sadly. ‘Guess that’s it then.’ She had accomplished something, at least. The other women in her caravan might still be sold off, but she doubted any of the old coots left in the crowd would be as physically demanding. It was something. And if she was doomed to be Cardin’s plaything for the rest of her life… it didn’t have to be a long one. She was clever enough, could find a way to break the collar. She would die with dignity, even if she wouldn’t die a virgin.

‘All this time I was saving it for someone special.’ she thought sadly. ‘ I should have just taken Coco’s advice and-”

“10.”

Her head jolted up at the voice, and her eyes went wide as saucers. 

‘No.’

‘Yes.’ the newcomer seemed to say back, confidence rippling across the sea of bodies between them.

Cardin’s bid had put the rest of the crowd on edge. The newcomer’s had shoved them off entirely.

“What the hell are _you_ doing here?” Cardin said murderously.

“Working.” The other voice said casually. “ Cashing checks, saving money on dust, the usual. I walked by, saw something I liked, and decided to splurge a little.” He smiled obliviously. “That’s not a crime now, is it?”  
  
“You’re dumber than I thought if you think we’d believe you could afford this-”  
  
“Hold your horses, bucko!” The auctioneer said, Velvet for a moment convinced his eyes had done an honest to god cash register gag. “ Let the young gentleman make his bid!”

The newcomer typed a sequence of numbers into his scroll and then the auctioneer’s scroll let out a soft ding.

“And it cleared!” The auctioneer whooped. “ Looks like 10 million is the winning bid! Unless-” he looked greedily at Cardin, “-you would like to make a counter offer?”  
  
Without turning around, Velvet could hear Sky making a slashing gesture across his throat while Russel furiously shook his head.

Cardin scowled. “ Fine.” He said, his face screaming anything but. “ You can have the little bitch.”

“10 million going once, 10 million going twice… sold! To the blond gentleman in the hoodie! Pick her up out back in 5.” His voiced changed to a whisper so that only Velvet could hear. “Get back stage, sweetheart.” He ordered.

Velvet nodded dumbly, not even bothering to resist the command. She felt like she had been dosed with the tranquilizer again- nothing made sense anymore.

She had seen the depths humans and faunus could sink to. She had expected this kind of behavior from strangers, hell, even from brutes like Cardin. She could never prepare for it coming from one of her friends.

“Hook up her ID tag.” A voice said as she walked by. She stopped in her tracks, barely noticing. “ Add a little flourish to it- it’s just common courtesy at this point.”  
  
A shadowy figure walked in front of her, took a last leer at her body before sending her off, and then attached a golden circlet to her collar. Everything else faded out of existence as she focused her eyes on the tag. The metal was fine and soft to the touch, and she could twist it just enough that she could see both sides.

On the front were two indentations in the form of upward facing crescents. On the back was all that was left of her self. 

**_Valean Faunus ID_ **

**_1479512_ **

**_S:F | C:Ma | BT:O+ | DOB:_ _9/17/62 | H:166cm_ **

**_Property of Jaune Arc_ **

  
  



	2. Property of Jaune Arc

“Now, sign here, here, aaaaand, done. Congratulations on an excellent purchase!” Puce said happily, taking the clipboard back from his customer. “ Would you be interested in joining our premium mailing list?” The slaver asked with a gleam in his eye.

“No thanks.” Jaune replied. “ This one’s going to keep me busy for a while.”

“Can’t say I blame you.” The man said, taking out a smooth cylinder on a necklace from under his suit. “ Truth be told I’m a bit pained to be giving her away so soon. Now, for the last part of this you’re going to have to say something- give the LEASH a sample of your voice to recognize. Preferably something on the longer side? You wouldn’t happen to have something prepared, would you?”

The Huntsman rolled his eyes. Then cylinder touched the collar. “The name’s Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls of the tongue- ladies love it.”

The LEASH buzzed for a moment before letting out a soft ding. _“Owner voice authorization recognized- all previous users and commands on number 1479512 have been deleted.”_  
  
As soon as she heard that, Velvet sprung into action. She ignored the aura shielded targets and swung a roundhouse kick right at the head of old man Puce. Within a fraction of a second cries of agony were heard as a body crumpled to the ground.

‘ **_Pain._ **’ She thought numbly, shocks making her body glow a faint white under the night sky. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and all she could smell was the faint tinge of ozone. Finally, her aura flickered and died and the voltage came to a halt- the system deciding against doing any real damage.

“You stupid bitch.” Puce said sadly. “ You really thought it would be that easy? The system’s default settings keep you from laying a finger on _any_ human. We don’t have to order you- we don’t even have to own you. That’s just basic.” he laughed darkly. “Trying to break that rule automatically sets of the maximum voltage- which if you don’t want to die I wouldn’t recommend.”

Velvet forced herself back to her feet. Suicide hardly seemed like the worst option right now… and if she could get the momentum just right she should still be able to hit her target- take him out with her. But Puce seemed to realize that too- he had moved behind the counter and was just out of striking distance.

“We could tranq her again.” Russel said helpfully. “Make her a bit easier to move.”

“...Her aura is almost gone.” Dove said. “Without something to take the edge off that last dose would kill her.”  
  
Sky shrugged. “Give her a smaller shot then- just make her nice and sleepy.”

“I can handle her.”  
  
Velvet stiffened.

“Why don’t you give her a test run?” Cardin said mockingly. “ Make sure everything’s working properly?”

  
Velvet could hear the eager snickers of the gang around her as footsteps drew ever closer to her. Her eyes stayed locked on the ground, preparing for the next inevitable humiliation.

“Velvet.” her master said firmly. “Look at me.”

Involuntarily her neck craned upward and she took in the sight of her old friend.

Their years apart had done Jaune well. He was taller than she remembered, his frame broader, his features harder. The tips of her rabbit ears came just shy of the top of his head. But it was still him. His armor and her nudity only heightened the contrast between his body and hers and somehow in her lowest moment this made Velvet feel even smaller. Cool pools of blue met shimmering circles of brown.

Velvet tried to muster a glare and failed miserably, eyes wide and watery. She didn’t have any more fight left in her tonight. Jaune looked back down at her, stone faced.

“...Where are her clothes?”  
  
Velvet blinked.

The slaver and his crew seemed caught off guard as well. “ What clothes?” Puce asked.

“You know- the skin tight black bodysuit, the brown jacket and shorts she wears over it, the leggings… something? It’s a kind of distinctive outfit.”

“We burned it.” Puce said. “ Standard industry practice- take away everything they used to have. Makes them a lot more pliable- gods know she needs it.” Velvet felt a twinge of sadness followed by an involuntary twinge of amusement. If they had tried pulling that stunt with Coco, collared or not, she would have fucking murdered all of them.

Jaune sighed. “Okay. Do you have anything else she could wear lying around?”

“You can costume the mutt however you want when you get home!” Cardin said sharply. “Why is this our problem?”

“She’s private property now.” Jaune deadpanned. “ And I don’t plan on giving half of Vale a free show.” Most of the men in the room withered under Jaune’s stare. Cardin shot back and unrepentantly perverse smirk.

“It’s just part of doing business.” Cardin said cockily. Jaune ignored them.  
  
“Plus-” he began, startling Velvet as she felt a hand cup her cheek. “-she’s cold.”

She had been focused on too many other things- escape, revenge, utter despair- but as soon as Jaune pointed it out she noticed the goosebumps covering her skin and the faint shivering that wasn’t just coming from the lingering pain. The rest of the class were making different observations.

“Damn.” Sky muttered. “Those nipples are so hard they could cut glass.”

“So?” Cardin asked defiantly.

“So?” Jaune said. “ I bought her in mint condition.” Velvet’s heart, which had been rising in her chest ever so slightly, sank right back down. “ I’m not getting her sick the first night I’ve got her.”

“Nothing we can do.” Russel said. “ Besides, wouldn’t her aura keep her warm any-” he trailed off dumbly.

“Sure that bitch didn’t give you a concussion, Russ?” Cardin teased. “ And why don’t you just be a gentleman and offer the bunny your coat, Jauney boy?”

Puce glared at his muscle for continuing to needle their customer but Jaune was lost in thought. After half a minute of hesitation he pulled out his scroll and started dialing. 

“What are you doing now?” Cardin asked.

“Filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.” Jaune deadpanned.

Puce rushed up to him. “Now, now, there’s no need for that! I’m sure we could work something out- maybe a discount on your next purchase or-”  
  
“I was kidding.” Jaune said. “I’m calling a cab to meet us out back.” He gestured vaguely at the naked woman behind them. “ There’s no way she’s walking miles across Vale like this.”  
  
“What’s the matter?” Cardin asked. “Sports car stuck in the shop?”  
  
“Winchester,” Puce whispered menacingly “ If you don’t shut your goddamn mouth right now I will throw you out faster than you can say unemployment.”

“Behind Shawcross Pavilion at Central Plaza… 5 minutes? Okay, thanks.” Jaune put the scroll away. “One last thing.” Jaune began. “Where’s Anesidora?”  
  
“The camera?” Sky asked. “ It’s broken. I think Cardin wanted to keep the pieces as a trophy.”  
  
“You broke one of the most advanced weapon systems ever created?”

“It was either that or Russel.” Sky replied. “Got a problem with that?”  
  
Jaune shook his head. “ When you guys said you were selling a huntress I assumed that came with the full package.”  
  
“You bought a huntress’s body.” Cardin said. “ Of course, if you’d like to trade that for some junk scraps, I’d be more than happy to-”  
  
“It’s fine.” Jaune said. “Pleasure doing business with you.”

“Wait!” Puce said as the young man moved to collect his prize. “ The LEASH is still keyed to the plaza. We have to set the collar to travel mode, and send someone with a key along with you to prevent the shocker from going off.”  
  
“Can’t I just handle the key?” Jaune asked shortly.

Puce shrugged apologetically. “ Only licensed traders can carry them. It’s a security measure. It doesn’t have to be a huntsman, or anything, I can just get one of my other boys to tag along and-”  
  
“Sky,” Cardin ordered “ go with them.”

“Fine.” The blue haired brigand muttered. “ But I still have first call on the doe cunt.”

Puce’s face started to turn his peculiar shade of red but Jaune nodded in acquiescence so that was the end of it for the moment. As they walked out of the room and onto the streets Velvet’s ears picked up the beginnings of what seemed to be a legendary tongue lashing. Velvet didn’t feel the need to pay attention to that any longer. Instead she focused on the firm hand gripping her wrist and leading her to the street.

“Well.” Sky groaned. “ That’s the end of that job.” He chuckled. “ Three bitches and a nice bundle of cash is a pretty great severance package, though.” He noticed Velvet’s breath catch and his grin widened. “That’s right.” He said mockingly “ We snapped up the three broads traveling with you- the ones that weren’t too fat or too old, that is. Would’ve liked to have gobbled you up too, but hey, three outta four ain’t bad.”  
  
Velvet let the sharp sting of the cold concrete below her take her mind off of what would happen to Kara, Belle and Dixie. ‘Same thing’s happening to me.’ She thought dully.

“Excuse me?” a head sticking out of a black sedan called out, “Are you-” the man stopped mid-sentence as his eyes bugged out of his head.

The last few hours had more or less desensitized Velvet to the fact that the sight of naked, nubile faunus women was not a normal one, and if possible, her situation became even more uncomfortable. Sky grinned rapaciously while Jaune shoved a 1000 lien chip into the driver’s hands.

“Take us to the address on your scroll and don’t ask any questions.”

The trio squeezed into the back seat of the car, with Velvet firmly in the middle. The relief of the warm air hitting her skin was counterbalanced by the complete loss of personal space as she was sandwiched between her two captors.

“So,” Sky said, stretching his arms out and splaying himself across the seats. “ who would have thought during that first day of Beacon that this is where we would be a few years later?”

“I don’t think anyone saw this coming.” Jaune said, staring wistfully out the window.  
  
Beacon… it seemed so long ago. Velvet ran over the dates and realized that she would have been graduating in a couple months had everything not gone to hell.

“What did you do after the Fall?” Sky asked.

Jaune grunted. “ Went to Haven.” He said gruffly. “ It didn’t go well.”  
  
“Understatement of the century.” Sky said, laughing. “ That’s what happens when you leave a mutt in charge of anything. You got your license?”  
  
“Yeah.”

“4 years of school would have been a waste of time anyway.” Sky said, reaching for Velvet’s leg. “ Now we’ve got more time to enjoy the finer things in life.” Without even moving his head Jaune blocked Sky’s hand, and then casually wrapped an arm around Velvet’s shoulders, forming a barrier between the brigand and the bunny girl. Velvet’s skin burned everywhere he touched her, but she leaned into the contact- she badly needed the warmth.

Sky scowled. “ Ever wonder if we’re the last students to come out of Beacon?” He asked, changing the subject.

“On bad days, yeah.” Jaune quipped.

“What days aren’t bad for Huntsman now? Shit’s falling apart everywhere.” Sky said. “There ain’t exactly a lot of us left.” 

“We lost two Academies and all the Faunus.” Jaune said simply. “ What did people expect?”

“Who knows?” Sky asked. “ Who cares? Point is we can make a killing off the shortfall- more money for us. Say-” he said innocently. “ you’ve got to have something pretty sweet lined up to have 10 big ones lying around, right?”  
  
Jaune grunted. 

Sky frowned. “ I’m asking what you’ve been doing for cash recently. Help your buddy out.”  
  
“This and that.” 

“Fine.” Sky pouted. “ Be an asshole. I’m still getting a cut of your 10 million.”  
  
Jaune shrugged.

“You know, you were a lot more fun when you actually fucking talked.”  
  
“I’m having a blast.”

Velvet bit back a giggle. Even after all these years it was nice to see someone get under the bully’s skin; especially to see Jaune get some payback-

‘No.’ She thought sternly. ‘You can’t think like that anymore. He doesn’t care.’

“What about your business?” Jaune asked, as if to prove her point. “How’s that?”  
  
“The trapping trade?” Sky said. “ That’s over. Even if Cardin didn’t just get us fired there wasn’t much left to do. It was great, easy money for a while, rounding up all the animals and making lien hand over fist. But, ever hear that story about the goose and the golden egg? Basically that. All the animals are caged up good and proper now- if anyone wants any more they’ll have to be bred in captivity.” Sky laughed lasciviously. “ I might have some fun with that, but it isn’t going to pay the bills the same way.”  
  
“All of them?”Jaune asked.

Sky Lark shrugged. “ There are supposed to be some strays in Vacuo. A few of the boys were talking about heading over and rounding them up, but I ain’t interested. Vacuo’s a hellhole and I’ve got a good thing going here.”

“And how does the LEASH work?” Jaune asked curiously. “ Your boss didn’t exactly give out a user’s manual. What have I gotten myself into?”  
  
“Most people know the basics.” Sky said. “There are a few basic programs that run automatically- voice recognition, interrogation, non-violence, the works. The registered owner can order their slave to do pretty much anything, and if they don’t, well… zap zap.” Sky chuckled.

“How does that work?”  
  
“The collar attaches around the neck- they say it picks up brainwaves through the spine or some shit, figures out what the Faunus is about to do as soon as they do - fuck man, I don’t know. Ask a gearhead from Atlas if you really care.”  
  
“Shouldn’t you know how your own equipment works? How does it know who the owner is, or the target’s location?”  
  
“Look, man, I just round the bastards up. The specs are above my paygrade. The LEASH is keyed to the trappers first, and the beasts start out in travel mode. If they get further than 10 feet away from a key, the shocker goes off. A master key can transfer them from person to person- only bigshots like the Boss get those, and he might not have his for much longer if he closes up shop. The Kingdom wouldn’t want just anyone to be able to take a Faunus slave.  
  
“Any key can set them into a pre-programmed area- where they can work or sleep or fuck or whatever. Basically anywhere there master owns and wants them to be. That’s why I’m here,” he said proudly, “ to key the bitch to wherever you want to keep her.”  
  
“I still don’t get why I can’t just have the key. Frankly I’m not stoked about having to show you where I live.”  
  
“Jaune, that hurts.” Sky said, slugging his companion in the shoulder. “ Only professionals can have a key, not two bit amateurs like you.” Sky said. “ Otherwise an animal might manage to steal one, and get away.”  
  
“...Couldn’t you just order them not to take it?” Jaune asked.

Sky stared forward, dumbstruck. “ Fuck, dude. I don’t make the rules.” He whined. “I just follow them.”  
  
“But what if I want to take her out for a walk, or send her to get groceries, or something?”  
  
“Then you’re shit out of luck.” Sky said curtly. “ You’ve got a hot little love slave you can do whatever the fuck you want to. Stop making things complicated. I just want to go home, fuck my new doe until she’s cross eyed and bow legged and sleep in my own bed after weeks in the field. That’s all you need to do.”

“We’re here.” The driver interrupted.

Velvet looked up. It was a middling area, with high rises around a dozen feet tall in every direction. She knew the area, vaguely. They were a couple of miles out from the commercial district.

The cold bite of the night air nipped at her skin as she stepped out of the car, and she put as much distance between herself and the men as she could.

“I know you told me not to ask.” the driver said slowly. “ But, whatever’s about to happen … can I get in on it?”  
  
Jaune stared at the man, unmoving.

“OkaySorryShouldn’tHaveAskedHaveANiceNightBye!” He spat out, speeding down the street in an instant.  
  
“Stay close.” Jaune ordered, wrapping his hand around her wrist again. “You’re almost out of aura- a bad shock of the LEASH might kill you. Even if it doesn’t it’ll knock you out- you don’t want to fall down these steps unshielded.”  
  
Velvet looked at him with a heartbroken expression on her face. “Not ready to break me just yet?” She whispered.

“No.” Jaune agreed. “Not yet.” 

The group trudged up the stairwell, their steps echoing through the concrete. Thankfully, there were no passersby- everyone else in the building was either inside or away.

“How far up are we going?” Sky asked tiredly.

“ The 11th floor.” Jaune said. “ Room 1126.”

“Cool.” Sky said. “What is it, the penthouse or something?” 

Jaune said nothing. When they finally reached 1126, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his scroll before tapping it on the touchpad. Velvet peaked in to her new prison.

It was nice enough. Most of the room was a soft white, with dark brown furniture and a few splotches of color with the pillows. She spotted a kitchen with hardwood floors, a small living room indented a few inches lower than the rest of the unit, and a hallway that branched out to the side with maybe two or three more rooms.

Dove walked in, and looked around, opening and closing doors. “Are you for real right now, man?”

“What?” Jaune asked.

“You had 10 million in the bank and you live here?”

  
“When I’m in the Kingdom, yeah.” Jaune said. “ I travel a lot for work.”

  
“...Are you scamming us?” Sky asked, pacing back and forth madly. “ Was this purchase even legit- I should have known you were full of it-” he said, reaching for his weapon.

  
“The money’s already in your boss's account. No tricks.”

Sky glared and kept his hand at his side.

“Do you really think he would have handed over someone like Velvet before he got the cash?”Sky relaxed, and then pulled the key out of his shirt.

“ All I’m saying is if I had that kind of dough I wouldn’t be living in a one bedroom apartment.”

Jaune cocked an eyebrow. “Any reason I should have more than one bedroom?”

  
Sky glanced over at the naked faunus girl and bit back a laugh. “Guess not.” He muttered. “Now, do you want her locked to your bed or is there anywhere else you want her to go?”

  
“Give her the run of the place.” Jaune said. “Should make cooking and cleaning a bit more manageable.”

Sky laughed. “Somebody’s getting his money’s worth.” The cylindrical key on the end of his neck glowed and bathed the room in a pale blue light. Sky walked door to door, Jaune and Velvet close on his heels, making sure every speck of ground was lit up. 

“I don’t suppose I could talk you into carving out a path to the store?” Jaune asked pleasantly.

“No can do, bud.” Sky replied. “ Your property stays on your property. That’s the law.” 

“Ah well.” He said. “ One last thing then; could you tweak some of the default settings for me?”  
  
“...Like what?” Sky asked suspiciously.

“Well, like you said,” Jaune said slowly. “ we’re living in dangerous times. I’d like to have a bit more security, and it doesn’t get much better than a live in huntress. Since she’s not going anywhere, can we set it so she just can’t attack me?” 

Sky glared at him. “ Or invited guests.” Jaune amended.

Sky sighed. “ Whatever.” He said, pressing the key onto Velvet’s collar again. “You’re the boss. But if she hurts anyone it’s gonna be your ass.”

“ _Manual override to directive 1._ ” The collar sounded. “ _Awaiting code revision._ ”  
  
“Don’t attack your master or his guests.” Jaune said. 

“ _Voice command recognized. Protocol revised._ ” 

Sky yawned. “Well, Jaune, it’s been a long day, and seeing as I’ve done my job I’m going home to go balls deep in a Faunus slut. We should catch up sometime, trade tonight’s juicy details.”  
  
“Sure.” Jaune said. “Have a good night.”

With that the last member of CRDL strolled out of Jaune Arc’s apartment and slammed the door shut behind him.

As the footsteps faded into the distance Jaune let out a deep breath. “Finally!” He said eagerly. “ I thought he’d never leave.” Then he turned to face Velvet. “Shower’s on the end of the hall.” He said, unclipping the chest plate of his armor. “ The collar’s waterproof, I think. Get clean and warm yourself up. I’ll be waiting out here when you’re ready.”

Velvet said nothing, then turned around, conscious of the eyes on her back as she marched down the hall. She noticed as she opened the bathroom door that there was no lock on it- privacy was a luxury that was long gone.

The bathroom was modest but well cared for- the white tiles were cold but clean. As she shivered, Velvet made a mental note not to exhaust her aura on shocks unless she could get something out of it- it had been ages since she has been at the mercy of elements, and it felt terrible.

She stepped into the shower and moved the handle to it’s highest setting. The water seared her skin, but her shivering finally came to a halt. Even when she had been free hot showers had been hard to come by. She had a mental catalogue of creeks and rivers stretching across half a continent to bath in- for basic hygiene and to throw any pursuers off her trail. Warmth had been a precious resource on the nights nearing the great Eastern desert. If she had to give up hot water for the rest of her life to go back she would make the trade in a heartbeat.

Even as she warmed up her body kept shaking. Velvet used the last of her presence of mind to her if her master was nearby. She’d been holding in her emotions for months- she had to stay strong for her charges and she refused to give her torturers the satisfaction. Now, finally away from prying eyes, the dam broke.

Great, heaving sobs wracked her body as rivers of hot tears disappeared into the streams cascading down her figure. 

She wanted to scream. She wanted to kill. She wanted to die. She had failed her mission, delivered innocent people into slavery and she was trapped with no way out in a world that despised her. She missed her team, she missed Beacon.

They had wanted to come with her, provide extra security, but she had talked them out of it. The desert tribes were being flooded with new members and in desperate need of protection. Fox’s tribe had taken them in- they had to return the favor. Besides, she knew the ground better than they did, would be easier for runaway Faunus to trust.

“I hope you know what you’re doing.” Yatsuhashi had said gravely. Her partner had been the hardest to convince to stay behind. Coco had pressed her but trusted her judgement, Fox had been caught up taking care of his own family. It had taken their help to talk the gentle giant down. 

She straightened herself up. Her team loved her- they were waiting for her. She missed them terribly. If there was a snowball’s chance in hell she had to try and make it back.

Images flashed through her mind, steeling her resolve. Her memories had always been her strongest weapon- no matter who they had lost or what they were going through pictures of a better time kept her sane, reminded her of what life was and could be again. So long as she had her friends in her heart she could take anything.

But if they were ever turned against her, that would ruin her faster than any torture.

* * *

_“Hey.” She said anxiously, grabbing on a younger boy’s dress shirt. “Could I … talk to you for a bit?”_

_The Huntsman in training looked more like a dear in headlights as the second year pulled him aside. Velvet had taken extra dust courses her first year to help put the finishing touches on Anesidora, and now she was making up Oobleck’s history course with the First Years. Despite Coco’s ribbing to the contrary, Velvet hardly knew any of the firsties- a fact she was painfully aware of right now._

_Pyrrha, the legendary redhead whose celebrity extended across the school before she had even touched down, was looking at the older girl, half surprised, half worried. She looked at the blond- her leader if Velvet remembered correctly- looking ready to intervene but the boy brushed her off with an easygoing authority._

_“Sure.” He said nervously. “I’ll catch up in a minute. Ren, keep Nora away from my sister’s chocolates until I get back.” A shorter, dark haired boy with a pink streak and perceptive pink eyes nodded knowingly while a shorter ginger girl pouted goodnaturedly._

_The rest of the boy’s team left, joining up with another team of freshman, the hotshot Team RWBY, whose bodacious blonde let out a wolf whistle as they left the awkward pair behind._

_“Sorry about that.” he said apologetically. “My little sister’s birthday is next week, and I promised her homemade chocolates, and even though Nora’s a sweet girl she’s got a bit of a problem with personal property, so…” he trailed off expectantly, waiting for the Faunus girl to speak._

_“At lunch today,” she began. “ Cardin and his gang were messing with me again and you told them to back off.”_

_“...Yeah.” The blond said, rubbing his hands behind his head._

_“Why?”_

_“I… um…” He muttered. “ it seemed like the right thing to do.”_

_That threw the girl for a bit of a loop. She had seen this boy around a few times, hanging around Cardin. In his combat gear he even looked like those wanna be knight thugs. She had just assumed he was one of them, until today._

_“Why did they stop?” She asked._

_The blond looked at her blankly._

_"They never back off, no matter what I tell them.” She said. “ If you roughed them up I appreciate the thought but really wish that you hadn’t. I’m a huntress, not a damsel in distress, and if thrashing them would solve the problem I could handle it.”_

_The knight looked at her incredulously. “ You think_ **_I_ ** _beat_ **_them?”_ **

_"Of course.” Velvet said. “ They aren’t that tough, and you must really be something if Ozpin gave you the nod over THE Pyrrha Nikos.”_

_The freshman flushed and mumbled something incoherent under his breath._

_“ Anyway,” she continued softly. “Violence doesn’t make ignorance or hatred go away, it just makes things worse. I don’t want it done for my sake.” An awkward silence hung over the two. “That’s all I wanted to say.” She whispered anxiously, moving for the door. “Thanks for listening.”_

_“Wait!” he called out as she moved away. “ I never hit Cardin!”_

_Velvet looked at him quizzically. The boy colored under her stare._

_“ The two of us have an understanding.” He muttered._

_“Oh.” Velvet replied. “ That’s… good?”_

_“I got him to promise to stay away from me and my friends.” The freshman said._

_“But then… why me?” Velvet asked timidly. “We aren’t friends, you don’t even know me.”_

_“Sure we are.” The blond said, with a playful confidence in his voice. “Mom always said strangers are just friends you haven’t met yet.”_

_The Faunus girl looked at him owlishly. The boy chuckled nervously and started towards the door. “ I’d better get going. Don’t worry about him anymore, I’ll cover for you.”_

_The rabbit girl was caught in paralyzing indecision. It had taken her hours to prep her planned speech- her heart hammered as everything veered off script._

_“VELVET!” She blurted out just as the younger boy opened the door._

_The blond turned around, shocked._

_“...Gesundheit?”_

_Velvet blushed madly. “ No, my name. It’s Velvet… Velvet Scarlatina.”_

_The boy’s eyes widened in understanding. Then he brushed a hand through his messy mop of hair, and infused his voice with a charm that was too practiced to be real, but still managed to make her heart flutter just the teensiest bit._

_“The name’s Jaune Arc.” He began boldly. “Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue- ladies love it.”_

**“OWNER VOICE AUTHORIZATION RECOGNIZED.”**

* * *

“No!” Velvet whimpered piteously. “ No, no, no please no…”

The water burned. Her eyes burned. Her body ached. She dug her fingers into her arms as she wrapped them around her chest defensively.

‘I can’t take this. I can’t bear this. Please, please, anything but this.’

Suddenly, her ears twitched.

The faint creek of the door alerted her to the entrance of another person. Apparently her master had grown impatient and decided to take matters into his own hands. She could see a broad outline through the steamed over pane of glass. ‘So.’ She thought despondently, ears flopping down over her face, ‘this is how it starts.’

She waited for the shower door to open and the hammer to drop.

It didn’t. 

After a few agonizing moments the door closed and Velvet was alone once more. 

Still, the shock of his entrance convinced Velvet not to waste any more time. She was still a Huntress; if this was her fate she would face it head on, not cowering in the corner like some crying schoolgirl.

She picked up a bar of soap and started layering it over her body. As the suds spread over her skin, she tried to imagine that circumstances were very different. ‘I’m about to have sex’ she thought, hands lingering to create a delicious friction. There was nothing she could do to stop it- it would hurt a lot less if her body was ready for it. Sure enough, with the appropriate mindset and touches, her blood started to flow and a pit of fire pooled in her lower abdomen. 

As she began to wash her hair she let her mind wander. How long would he last; would he be gentle or rough? Would she be able to enjoy any of it? Was there any of the old Jaune left in there?

When she stepped out of the shower she noticed two things folded on the sink counter. One was a large red towel, the other was a t-shirt. ‘Seems a little pointless, but fine.’ She though, quickly drying herself off. It felt good to be warm again.

As she finished drying her hair as quickly she could, she looked over the t-shirt. It was a large, white, innocuous looking thing. When she slipped it on, it came down to about mid thigh. It was baggy, and drafty at the bottom, obviously, but it was more than she had been able to wear all day. It would be easy enough to take or tear off, if that’s what her master wanted, but she would enjoy its flimsy protection while she could.

It was one of Jaune’s, probably, based on its size. Velvet held the fabric up to her nose and sniffed it experimentally- it was clean, but still had traces of her master’s scent. In her current state, the smell of her would be mate was driving her wild, so she put it down immediately. She had to make herself wet, not eager.

She took a good look at herself in the mirror, satisfied that she was as aroused and presentable as she could make herself given the circumstances. Then her breath caught.

Dead center on the front of the t-shirt was the head of a brown cartoon rabbit.

“Is this some sort of sick joke?” She muttered furiously. He owned her the same as he owned the shirt; might as well own insult to injury with some dumb logo to tie them together.

Velvet stormed out of the bathroom. ‘If we’re doing this, we’re doing it on my terms. Come on and take me, you treacherous git.’

Said treacherous git was standing over the stove in the kitchen, humming to himself in a black t-shirt and sweatpants as he stirred the pot.

“You’re done?” He said, hearing her approach but not even bothering to turn around. “ Good. I thought I was going to have to come and get you. Dinner’s almost ready.”

Velvet stood deathly still.

“I threw together some beef stew.” He continued obliviously. “ I just got back in town, so I’ve only got frozen and canned stuff at the moment, but if you aren’t in the mood for this I bought these awesome dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets-“

“ ARE YOU GOING TO SHAG ME OR NOT!?”

…

…

...

Jaune looked at her, slack jawed.

Velvet stared back at him, face reddening until it was a deep scarlet.

“Well,” He began hesitantly. “ I’m a red-blooded young man, so… if you’re _offering…”_

Velvet sputtered.

“W-a-wh-wha, I, you, no, wait… what?!” She coughed, clearing her throat, and her head. “Stop toying with me!” She began. “ I was sold as love slave! You bought me! Why else would you-“

Suddenly it all clicked. 

_“Can’t I just handle the key?”_

_“Where’s Anesidora?”_

_“-can we set it so she just can’t attack me?”_

“ _Only professionals can have a key, not two bit amateurs like you_ **.** **_Otherwise an animal might manage to steal one, and get away_ **.”

“Uh…” Jaune said, concerned, “ Velvet, are you al-“

A brown haired missile collided with his chest, knocking him back several steps and nearly spilling their dinner. Velvet wrapped her arms around her friends back and squeezed with all her might.

Jaune tensed, and for a horrible moment Velvet feared she had miscalculated. Then she felt a firm grip surround her waist and pull her off her feet. 

“Good to see you too, Velv.”

“...You were going to let me go.” She whispered. It was a statement, not a question.

Jaune chuckled, the booming rumbling echoing in his chest and reverberating comfortingly throughout her body. “Technically, I was going to enjoy your company for a few months, go away on a foreign mission, and _forget_ to lock the closet with your key and equipment. After all” he said sardonically “ no one could expect a 20 year old horn dog to be responsible with his 10 million lien toy.”

Jaune’s shirt started to get damp, but these tears were born of relief and joy. He said nothing, but began drawing soothing circles on the small of Velvet’s back. For a moment the beleaguered bunny girl let herself be consumed by her the pleasure of her senses- the sight of a friendly face, the sound of his heartbeat thumping alongside hers, the earthy scent of well worn clothes, the strong hold she was melting into. Then she heard a sharp intake of breath, and a disappointed sigh.

“I had to play the part to make it look convincing.” He said, pained. “... I never thought you’d believe it.”

“I’m sorry.” Velvet whispered, nuzzling into his chest. “ I… I can barely believe anything that’s been happening anymore.”

The blond knight nodded and decided to drop it. He had a wistful, far away look in his eye. He felt something shift on his chest and looked down into the accusing brown eyes of an irate Faunus.

“‘Not yet’?” She asked sharply.

Jaune smiled crookedly. “What? I’m committed.”

“You’re terrible.” She huffed, pouting. Then her face grew solemn. “...You shouldn’t have bought me.” She said softly, moving to break their embrace.

Jaune acquiesced, gently setting the girl down. “Why not?”

“Didn’t you hear Sky?” She said bitterly. “ Those bastards bought three women for less than what you bought me. You could have gotten four or five people out instead of just me.”

“ And left you to the wolves?!” Jaune asked angrily. “Besides, even if I did, what then? Would I have dropped everything, smuggled the lot of them past Kingdom security out of Vale’s borders and then taken my chances on the Vacuoan Run?”

“Yeah.” Velvet said. “Something like that.”

“Because that worked out so well for you.”

Velvet looked at him like she had been slapped.

“It’s the truth!” Jaune said. “You knew these people- you were better than I was and you couldn’t do it before they were collared! What chance would I have?” He put a hand on her shoulder. “ The trappers are getting desperate. When there were still people in and around the Kingdoms they could afford to be sloppy, but they’re catching up now. They’ve already mapped most of the routes across Sanus about as well as we have. Someone like you, prodigy Huntress with a photographic memory, you’d probably make it. Anyone else?” Jaune let out a harsh laugh. “Fat chance.”

A whistle of steam interrupted the pair. “That’s dinner.” Jaune said. “You must be starving.”

The mention of food forced a loud growl out of her stomach. “Sounds good.” She said cooly.

She sat down at the table, crossing her legs and suddenly very conscious of the fact that she wasn’t wearing pants. For his part, Jaune either didn’t notice or had stealth peaking down to a science, poker faced as he set down the steaming pot on the table. “ I’ll get us some ice cubes.” He said. “This got a little too hot.”

‘No kidding.’ Velvet thought, before the wafting aroma of cooked beef filled her nostrils and emptied her thoughts. Gods, how long had it been since she had had warm food? Her mouth watered as Jaune expertly maneuvered the ladle and filled her bowl to the brim. It took all of her self control and etiquette not to pounce immediately- instead she left her server unmolested and let the stew sit until it finally stopped steaming, spinning her spoon and blow on it to speed the process along.

She forced herself to take slow bites. “So, what happens now?” She asked.

“We’re roomies, until we get another shot at one of those keys.” Jaune said. “ Otherwise, you can’t get out of here.”

“Why didn’t you try and get Sky’s?”

Jaune shook his head. “ The thought crossed my mind, but he’s too dangerous. If it had been some trapper mook, maybe, but Cardin’s power play complicated things.” Rumor at Beacon was that Sky was the strongest member of CRDL. From what she had seen of them, Velvet wasn’t sure she believed that, and the boy obviously played second fiddle to Cardin, but she couldn’t say for certain. “ There’s no way I could have put him down without attracting attention- not while covering you when you were totally exposed.”

Velvet bit her lip. “ If I hadn’t attacked Puce-“

“Then you still wouldn’t have been able to fight.” Jaune said. “ There was no way out of that that ended well. Besides, we still got something out of it- we have a pretty damn good idea how these things work now.”

“Right.” Velvet said. “ And now, if we get an uninvited visitor with a key to the leash-“

“Then it’s two on one.” Jaune said grinning. “ Until then, sit tight. Hanging at my place isn’t so bad, is it?”

Velvet took a hearty swig of the broth, drinking directly from the bowl and finishing the last of her dinner. She suppressed a burp, somewhat unsuccessfully according to the smirk on her host’s face. 

“ It has its perks.” She admitted.

“Good.” Jaune said. “Money’s a bit tight at the moment, so we’ll have to figure out some way for you to earn room and board, but we should be able to work it out easily enough.”

Velvet stared at him across the table. 

“You just blew 10 million in a single night.”

“Yeah.” Jaune said petulantly. “ On you. You’re welcome, by the way.”

“I’m sorry, Master.” Velvet said curtly. “What are your orders?”

“...It’s not like that and you know it.”

“ Because if I don’t like the terms you offer I can just go somewhere else, right?” She said pointedly. “ I can’t believe I forgot- you own me.”

“By the Brothers, Velvet!” Jaune bellowed. “ I’m not telling you to suck my cock, I’m saying I expect you to help out around the house a bit!”

The room went quiet. The Huntsman and the Huntress both stared at the floor, decidedly refusing to make eye contact.

Jaune was the first to speak up. “Look.” He said, “ Today has been a lot to take in, for both of us. Why don’t we just… sleep on it? We can work the details in the morning.”

Velvet nodded. “Alright.”

Her host sighed. “ I’ll go set up your bed. It’s either mine or the futon in the living room-“

“-the futon is fine.” Velvet said quickly.

“...I’ll get on that..” The blond said awkwardly.

Once the boy had left the room, Velvet slammed her head on the table. ‘Gods, what am I doing?’ She picked up the dirty dishes and began rinsing them off in the sink. 

‘ You shouldn’t be so hard on the guy.’ She thought to herself sullenly. ‘ He’s doing better than you could have possibly hoped for. An hour ago you were getting ready for him to rape you. Now he’s invited you into his home and cooked you a gourmet meal and you’re biting his head off. An occasional blowie wouldn’t even be that ba-‘

Velvet stopped, then slapped herself. Apparently her earlier… _preparation_ was still messing with her head. ‘ Show the guy some appreciation.’ Coco’s voice sounded in the back of her head. ‘ You know I’d do it for you.’

The level of physical intimacy her team leader was comfortable with far outstripped her, and while Velvet loved the fashionista to death, she did not need that particular kind of confidence rubbing off on her.

She finished her self appointed chore, and headed over to the living room, where her knight in silky pajamas has just finished setting up her bedding, which looked absolutely heavenly. “ You can slip the sheets under the seat during the day.” He said tiredly.

Velvet smiled appreciatively as she slipped in, biting back mewls of delight. As her ma… _friend_ left the room, the brunette grabbed his arm.

“Jaune.” She said softly. “... thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.” He replied. “You’re one of the best people I know. You deserve a hell of a lot better than being Cardin’s chew toy.”

Velvet buried her face in her pillow as he left, and for the third time that night, she cried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to RedDestroyer1361 for figuring out where I was going to take this chapter almost immediately.


End file.
